If you watch TED talks, I would recommend taking a look at Angela Duckworth's discussion on the formost predictor of success and I would guess it's not what you think. She studied Chicago public schoolchildren from a wide variety of social and ecnonomic situations.   "It wasn't talent or brains. It wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks. It wasn't physical health. It wasn't IQ. It was grit" she said.  

The age old question is: If you could have one thing would it be money, fame or power?  What would it be for you and for what reasons?I know what it is for me and will chime in at the end of the day. Weigh in please!

Well, they seem to be working. The cameras in school zones that generate tickets for exceeding the school zone speed limit. There is one such zone on a road that I travel very frequently. After the initial onslaught of tickets, and the publicity about the cameras, motorists being caught unaware and early flaws resulting in many, many unwarranted tickets being sent out (and then dismissed), it seems that people in my neighborhood are getting the message.

It is a frightening story.  The the head of the CDC seemed to be trying to convince us that we shouldn't be as afraid as he assumed we would be.  It's probably a good assumption.    

I can’t believe I am even writing this blog.  Sports commentary is very much outside my comfort zone. But I did see the hit and it looked really bad.

Memory is a funny thing. There are some things I have a lot of trouble remembering. Several times a week, I’ll find myself walking into the pantry in my house or the file room in my office only to forget what I went in to get. And five minutes after I take my daily vitamin, I find myself trying to remember whether, in fact, I actually took the pill.

The most human part of Jeter's last home game the other night was during his post game interview when he said he was so out of sorts that he was hoping no one would hit it to him at short stop.  "Please don't hit it to me," he said he was thinking.  

I'm embarassed to say that this is my first vacation (more than one work day) in over three years. I was nervous and scared before I left. Seems silly to write but it's the truth. I enjoy my work, most of the time, and am devoted to it.   I'm on Watch Island which is one of the 1,000 islands on the St. Lawrence river between the US and Canada. It's peaceful with the exception of the 13 other friends that are here with me.